Community Engagement Unit

Comprised of three teams, the Community Engagement Unit's mission is to spearhead the department's mission of working with the community in combatting crime.

Neighborhood Policing Team - Heavily involved with the community, the Neighborhood Policing Team works hand in hand with the community. Officers of this team frequently attend crime watch and community meetings, gathering information first-hand that can be relayed to other teams within the department. When not working directly with the community, officers work the streets combatting crime.

Nuisance Abatement Team - Works with property owners to eliminate conditions conducive to the criminal element. If one looks at crime statistics over a period of time, it becomes apparent that certian areas are havens for criminals. Often, this is due to leased residental properties or abandoned properties where the criminal element has choosen to take up residence. The Nuisance Abatement Team attempts to obtain voluntary cooperation from a property owner in abating conditions that are conducive to crime. If voluntary cooperation is not received, then the team undertakes efforts, often through legal channels, to compel property owners to cooperate.

Deployment Team - Utilizes covert tecniques to combat crime. Officers of this team research crime statistics to identify areas and trends in crime, suspect descriptions, and suspect actions. Armed with this information, officers, in plain clothes, operating a variety of unmarked vehicles, go into the community, looking for crimes in progress and making arrests of suspects caught "in the act".